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Appeals put hold on Ayers funding
HBCUs in Miss. need funds, college board official says
By Andy Kanengiser
akanengiser@clarionledger.com
Lengthy appeals are being blamed for holding up the bulk of the $503 million Ayers settlement intended for Mississippi's historically black universities.
And with Mississippi's eight universities reeling from nearly $100 million in budget cuts since 2000, the three historically black institutions "need it (Ayers funds) desperately," said state College Board member Dr. D.E. Magee Jr. of Jackson, chairman of the board's Ayers committee. "Hopefully, the appeals will be dismissed, but it will take some time to occur."
"It is frustrating," Magee said. "That (settlement) was our No. 1 priority."
Jake Ayers Sr. filed the lawsuit in January 1975 on behalf of black college students. He said Jackson State, Mississippi Valley State and Alcorn State universities were being under-funded compared to the state's five majority-white universities.
With lawyer Alvin Chambliss Jr. in recent months filing a string of appeals of the settlement signed last spring by U.S. District Judge Neal Biggers Jr., Jackson State University cannot construct a $20 million School of Engineering building.
Other appeal holdups:
Alcorn State University cannot launch its multi-million-dollar biotechnology program on the Lorman campus.
University of Mississippi Chancellor Robert Khayat is holding off making initial contacts to launch a nationwide campaign to raise $35 million in private funds for JSU, Alcorn and Mississippi Valley State, among other things.
A total $75 million in capital improvements and much of the $245 million for academic programs over the next 17 years ? the lifetime of the settlement ? are on hold, too.
But the appeals did not stop JSU's new E-Center in south Jackson, the former Allstate facility. Some private funds in the Ayers settlement plan were linked to the Allstate deal, but the JSU-Allstate deal was able to stand on its own.
Magee said he telephoned Chambliss, a Texas Southern University law professor, at his home in Houston recently to urge him to drop his plans to appeal to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans.
"He (Chambliss) listened, but apparently I didn't have much effect," Magee said. "We talked an hour or two. I wasn't very convincing."
But Magee isn't giving up. "I will continue to talk to Alvin," he said.
With another tough budget year forecast at the Capitol when the 2003 Legislature meets in January, Magee said it's more critical than ever that appeals stop and JSU, Valley and Alcorn receive the promised Ayers funding soon.
"I'd love to see it (Ayers appeals) be over in a month," he said.
Chambliss says he's well aware he's getting blamed by some for holding up Ayers dollars with his appeals.
"It is disingenuous to say Al Chambliss is causing the problem," he said. "It is the state of Mississippi causing the problems by refusing to give the schools what they are entitled to. It is the removal of the vestiges (of segregation)."
Chambliss also said much of the blame with the failure to properly settle the complex case also rests with Biggers and other federal judges. "The judge in the case has a constitutional obligation to deal with the real issues. So far, the courts have not tackled the issues confronting them," Chambliss said.
A Jackson State alumnus, Chambliss said he believes he is doing the right thing to appeal.
"I will win the case in the 5th Circuit, the U.S. Supreme Court or in the streets. Black people will get justice one way or another," he said.
Chambliss said he doesn't know how long the appeals will lengthen the case. But Pam Smith, an assistant higher education commissioner, said appeals could go on for another year or two.
"It's a terrible waste that we can't fund it (the Ayers settlement)," she said.
Chambliss insists JSU, Valley and Alcorn should have received a great deal more money ? even while appeals are pending.
The board discussed the latest Ayers developments with presidents of Mississippi's three historically black universities and other officials during a retreat last week in Ocean Springs.
Second District U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., the lead plaintiff in the decades-old lawsuit, said he's staying patient as Ayers appeals wind through federal courts.
"I'm willing to let the case go to the ultimate end," Thompson said. "I respect their right to disagree ...The parties who disagree with us are exercising their rights as Americans to continue to get their day in court."
There's no court date for the appeals.
Thompson said he continues to put the blame on the Legislature for decades of poor funding of JSU, Valley and Alcorn that led Ayers, who lived in Glen Allan, to file the lawsuit.
"I'm not about to blame anybody that disagrees with the settlement," he said.
Chambliss, who formerly represented Ayers plaintiffs for more than 20 years, now represents Lillie Ayers, the widow of the man who filed the lawsuit in addition to some professors and alumni. The group says the settlement is unfair and far short of what Jake Ayers Sr. desired.
Thompson said he has not attempted to contact Chambliss regarding the settlement or discuss his appeals in recent months.
"Whatever the (court) decision is, I can wait," Thompson said.
HBCUs in Miss. need funds, college board official says
By Andy Kanengiser
akanengiser@clarionledger.com
Lengthy appeals are being blamed for holding up the bulk of the $503 million Ayers settlement intended for Mississippi's historically black universities.
And with Mississippi's eight universities reeling from nearly $100 million in budget cuts since 2000, the three historically black institutions "need it (Ayers funds) desperately," said state College Board member Dr. D.E. Magee Jr. of Jackson, chairman of the board's Ayers committee. "Hopefully, the appeals will be dismissed, but it will take some time to occur."
"It is frustrating," Magee said. "That (settlement) was our No. 1 priority."
Jake Ayers Sr. filed the lawsuit in January 1975 on behalf of black college students. He said Jackson State, Mississippi Valley State and Alcorn State universities were being under-funded compared to the state's five majority-white universities.
With lawyer Alvin Chambliss Jr. in recent months filing a string of appeals of the settlement signed last spring by U.S. District Judge Neal Biggers Jr., Jackson State University cannot construct a $20 million School of Engineering building.
Other appeal holdups:
Alcorn State University cannot launch its multi-million-dollar biotechnology program on the Lorman campus.
University of Mississippi Chancellor Robert Khayat is holding off making initial contacts to launch a nationwide campaign to raise $35 million in private funds for JSU, Alcorn and Mississippi Valley State, among other things.
A total $75 million in capital improvements and much of the $245 million for academic programs over the next 17 years ? the lifetime of the settlement ? are on hold, too.
But the appeals did not stop JSU's new E-Center in south Jackson, the former Allstate facility. Some private funds in the Ayers settlement plan were linked to the Allstate deal, but the JSU-Allstate deal was able to stand on its own.
Magee said he telephoned Chambliss, a Texas Southern University law professor, at his home in Houston recently to urge him to drop his plans to appeal to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans.
"He (Chambliss) listened, but apparently I didn't have much effect," Magee said. "We talked an hour or two. I wasn't very convincing."
But Magee isn't giving up. "I will continue to talk to Alvin," he said.
With another tough budget year forecast at the Capitol when the 2003 Legislature meets in January, Magee said it's more critical than ever that appeals stop and JSU, Valley and Alcorn receive the promised Ayers funding soon.
"I'd love to see it (Ayers appeals) be over in a month," he said.
Chambliss says he's well aware he's getting blamed by some for holding up Ayers dollars with his appeals.
"It is disingenuous to say Al Chambliss is causing the problem," he said. "It is the state of Mississippi causing the problems by refusing to give the schools what they are entitled to. It is the removal of the vestiges (of segregation)."
Chambliss also said much of the blame with the failure to properly settle the complex case also rests with Biggers and other federal judges. "The judge in the case has a constitutional obligation to deal with the real issues. So far, the courts have not tackled the issues confronting them," Chambliss said.
A Jackson State alumnus, Chambliss said he believes he is doing the right thing to appeal.
"I will win the case in the 5th Circuit, the U.S. Supreme Court or in the streets. Black people will get justice one way or another," he said.
Chambliss said he doesn't know how long the appeals will lengthen the case. But Pam Smith, an assistant higher education commissioner, said appeals could go on for another year or two.
"It's a terrible waste that we can't fund it (the Ayers settlement)," she said.
Chambliss insists JSU, Valley and Alcorn should have received a great deal more money ? even while appeals are pending.
The board discussed the latest Ayers developments with presidents of Mississippi's three historically black universities and other officials during a retreat last week in Ocean Springs.
Second District U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., the lead plaintiff in the decades-old lawsuit, said he's staying patient as Ayers appeals wind through federal courts.
"I'm willing to let the case go to the ultimate end," Thompson said. "I respect their right to disagree ...The parties who disagree with us are exercising their rights as Americans to continue to get their day in court."
There's no court date for the appeals.
Thompson said he continues to put the blame on the Legislature for decades of poor funding of JSU, Valley and Alcorn that led Ayers, who lived in Glen Allan, to file the lawsuit.
"I'm not about to blame anybody that disagrees with the settlement," he said.
Chambliss, who formerly represented Ayers plaintiffs for more than 20 years, now represents Lillie Ayers, the widow of the man who filed the lawsuit in addition to some professors and alumni. The group says the settlement is unfair and far short of what Jake Ayers Sr. desired.
Thompson said he has not attempted to contact Chambliss regarding the settlement or discuss his appeals in recent months.
"Whatever the (court) decision is, I can wait," Thompson said.
